“Still Alice,” the last of the contenders in the big six Oscar categories to hit Las Vegas, opens Friday. You can also catch the eight best-picture nominees for one price at the South Point and Town Square.
Christopher Lawrence
Christopher Lawrence is the movie critic for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
clawrence@reviewjournal.com … @life_onthecouch on Twitter. 702-380-4567
Last seen fleeing Albuquerque, N.M., in the penultimate episode, lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) had a rather pragmatic view of what lay ahead: “If I’m lucky, in a month from now, best-case scenario, I’m managing a Cinnabon in Omaha.”
“Puppy Bowl XI,” “Kitten Bowl II,” “Fish Bowl II” even an eight-hour marathon of Las Vegas’ own Property Brothers offer alternatives to the Seahawks-Patriots game.
“A Most Violent Year,” the latest from buzzed-about writer-director J.C. Chandor (“Margin Call,” “All Is Lost”), is blessed with stirring, sit-up-and-take-notice performances by Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.
If anything, this cheap, obvious and lazy thriller should leave you looking forward to the singer’s likely Las Vegas residency. After all, every day she’s performing on the Strip is another day she can’t be making movies like this one.
Having portrayed the male lead in his two most recent series, Henderson’s Thomas Dekker is enjoying life a little farther down the call sheet on Fox’s quirky detective dramedy “Backstrom.”
On the surface, casting the “Avengers” star as one of the world’s pre-eminent computer geniuses sounds as ludicrous a creation as Christmas Jones, Denise Richards’ midriff-baring nuclear physicist from “The World Is Not Enough.”
You don’t watch writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s hippie-noir take on that confusing maelstrom between the end of the ’60s and the start of the ’70s so much as you let it wash over you like the smell of patchouli.
After rolling out 24 new shows in the fall, broadcasters have 17 additional new series lined up to go this winter and spring, with several more waiting in the wings when those don’t catch on.
What would television do without Las Vegas? Probably be a lot less wacky. The city’s TV footprint extends from “Wizard Wars” to “Vegas Rat Rods” and beyond. On a larger scale, the 2014 season also saw the end of such TV classics as “How I Met Your Mother” and “Boardwalk Empire.”
Hollywood was an underachiever in 2014 in terms of box office and quality. However, Las Vegas managed to shine through on the big screen in several movies and Penn and Teller impressed with the documentary “Tim’s Vermeer.”
Based on Laura Hillenbrand’s wildly popular biography, “Unbroken” concentrates on Louie Zamperini’s celebrated war years with a few flashbacks to his youth, starting with his days as the bullied son of Italian immigrants.
This Christmas, you have your choice of a musical, a dark drama, a historical tale you’d never believe was true, a historical tale you’d really never believe was true and a historical tale you’d absolutely, positively never believe was true.
His performance as billionaire John du Pont in the dark, true-crime drama would be hilarious if it weren’t leading to such a catastrophic ending.
Thankfully, director Peter Jackson saved the best for last, because the greatest thing about the first two installments of his trilogy was the menu they inspired at Denny’s.